NFL Quarterback Club 98
| genre = Sports, American football | modes = Single player, multiplayer | platforms = Nintendo 64 }} NFL Quarterback Club '98 is a football video game, released on October 24, 1997. It was developed by Iguana Entertainment and published by Acclaim Entertainment under their Acclaim Sports banner for the Nintendo 64. It was the first football game announced for the Nintendo 64. Features There are two kinds of Simulation modes, Custom and Historic. Custom Simulation mode allows one to create one's own scenario, including both teams' scores, who possesses the ball, how much time is left, and where the team with possession of the ball is on the field. Historic Simulation mode contains fifty different scenarios, based on games that happened in history, and a certain task is to be accomplished, often to "change history" and win with the team that lost the game, but sometimes to replicate a team's victory. Another feature found in the game allows one to create a player. The game allows one to enter information such as the player's position, name, jersey number, height, weight, dominant hand, skin color, and age. After one fills out this information, he or she is taken to a stat customization screen where one can edit a player's stats, such as accuracy and range (for kickers and quarterbacks), catching abilities, agility, speed, and strength (all for numerous players). After a player is created, he is put into Free Agency, where a player must be signed by a team. Players can also create a team, using color schemes of the 30 NFL teams found in the game. Teams' playbooks, stadiums, and initials (shown next to a team's score during gameplay) can be edited, and a team may contain up to 55 players. Players can be put onto any of the 30 teams already in the game, as well as Free Agents (including created players). In addition to the 30 pro teams in the game, there were also four hidden teams, accessed by entering a cheat code. Two teams, AFC and NFC, are the Pro Bowl teams from 1997. The other two teams are based on Iguana Entertainment and Acclaim, the developer and publisher of the game respectively, and feature then-employees as members of the team. Iguana Entertainment and Acclaim's teams are the two best teams statistically in the game. There is a season mode where players can select a team and play through their 1997 schedule. There is also a playoff mode where a player can select a team and try to guide them through the playoffs. Quarterback Club '98 also features a Quarterback Profile feature. This feature contains 30 quarterbacks, one from each team, and their college and pro football achievements in encyclopedic format. The game's commentary was done by Marv Albert. Brett Favre was the chief spokesperson for the game. Development Acclaim brought the NFL Quarterback series into the 64-bit age using technology they had been working on for several years for Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. With this, they were able to keep the game running at 30fps in high-resolution (640 x 480), something that hadn't yet been done in the U.S. They obtained the full NFL license, including all the teams, stadiums and rosters. Their competitor for the N64 that year, Electronic Arts' Madden Football 64 was not able to get the NFL license in time for the game's release as Acclaim had acquired all the licenses for that year, but the game did feature real player names as it did get a license from the league's players' association that year. As a result, NFL Quarterback Club 98 is the only football video game for the Nintendo 64 to be fully licensed by the NFL in 1997. Adrian Murrell served as the actor for the game's motion capture. A number of the plays in the team playbooks were designed by Brett Favre. A version of the game was in development for the Sega Saturn, but was cancelled as part of Acclaim's withdrawal of support for that console. Reception NFL Quarterback Club '98 has received mixed scores from reviewers. GameSpot gave it a 5.4 out of 10,NFL Quarterback Club 98 for Nintendo 64 Review - Nintendo 64 NFL Quarterback Club 98 Review noting its graphics as being advanced for the time, but heavily criticizing the passing physics of the game, the sound, and the AI intelligence. IGN gave it the higher score of 7.8/10,IGN: NFL Quarterback Club '98 Review also praising the graphics but giving the gameplay, sound, and lasting appeal mediocre scores. It has a 76% on GameRankings.NFL Quarterback Club 98 Screenshots Next Generation reviewed the Nintendo 64 version of the game, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "In the end, serious football fans may want to stick with Quarterback Club 64 for its realism, but the slow play is likely to drive gamers crazy." Other titles *''NFL Quarterback Club '99'' *''NFL Quarterback Club 2000'' *''NFL QB Club 2001'' *''NFL Quarterback Club 2002'' References Category:1997 video games Category:Acclaim Entertainment games Category:Cancelled Sega Saturn games Category:Nintendo 64 games Category:Nintendo 64-only games Category:NFL Quarterback Club video games Category:Video games developed in the United States